orion50
Active Member
If a vessel under sail displays a masthead tricolour while also displaying red/green pulpit lights and a white stern light on the tarnsom, is she in compliance with COLREGS?
Basic nav lights question...
- Thread starter orion50
- Start date
ianfr
Well-Known Member
Vessel must only display one or the other. NOT both.
Regards
Ian
Regards
Ian
VicS
Well-Known Member
No.
This diagram shows the legal combinations for the commonly used lights.
( It does not show the single all-round white that may be used by certain craft under 7m. It does not show the optional red and green all round lights commonly used by large sailing vessels )
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alant
Well-Known Member
From IRPCS 1972, amended 1995, "A Seaman's Guide to the Rule of the Road"
Rule 25 states
(a) "A sailing vessel under way shall exhibit :
(i) sidelights;
(ii) a sternlight.
(b) In a sailing vessel of less than 20 metres in length the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule may be combined in one lantern carried at or near the top of the mast where it can best be seen"
Some interpretations of this Rule 25, state that "a sailing vessel under way is required to display only side lights and stern lights".
The word "only", is NOT used in the original.
Neither do the words 'either' & 'or'!
Ducks for cover!
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Pye_End
Well-Known Member
alant
Well-Known Member
NUC
prv
Well-Known Member
Right, because it's not phrased in terms of two sets of lights. It says you must exhibit these lights, and that you may do so from one lantern if you're small enough.
Pete
theoldsalt
Well-Known Member
It never ceases to amaze me the number of times I see yachts displaying masthead tricolour when under engine instead of port/starboard/steaming lights. Colregs seem to mean nothing to many (in other ways as well but that's the subject of a different thread).
Twister_Ken
Well-Known Member
Watched the Bastille Day fireworks, anchored off Cannes. The variety of nav-light combinations when several hundred boats ranging from mini-ribs to super-yachts zapped away afterwards would have made the colreg fathers die of apoplexy. I'd say less than half were 'correct' and some were outrageous.
prv
Well-Known Member
You must be easily amazed
Some people know no better. Or forget to change over when they start the engine.On KS I have no tricolour, only red/green high on the mast and stern light on the mizzen masthead. So the switch from sail to motor simply requires turning on the masthead ("steaming") light. When I rewired the boat I added a relay so that the steaming light goes on and off with the engine. Surprised this isn't more widely used - quite apart from avoiding mistakes, if I'm starting the engine as I come through the pierheads, with sails to get down and warps to get ready, the last thing I need to do is jump below and manually switch the light configurations around.
Pete
theoldsalt
Well-Known Member
prv,
That's a clever piece of lateral thinking.
P.S. "amazed" was just a restrained figure of speech.
That's a clever piece of lateral thinking.
P.S. "amazed" was just a restrained figure of speech.
Fantasie 19
Well-Known Member
No.
This diagram shows the legal combinations for the commonly used lights.
( It does not show the single all-round white that may be used by certain craft under 7m. It does not show the optional red and green all round lights commonly used by large sailing vessels )
One of the things that always amazed me about my boat was the sheer number of nav lights on it... masthead tricolour & a pushpit red/green..... she's only 19' long - I'm assuming a previous owner had a lot of time on his hands...
VicS
Well-Known Member
One of the things that always amazed me about my boat was the sheer number of nav lights on it... masthead tricolour & a pushpit red/green..... she's only 19' long - I'm assuming a previous owner had a lot of time on his hands...
Mine has
Separate port and starboard lights ( because I think when originally fitted out a bicolour was not available in the Aqua Signal 25 range).
A stern light
A masthead (steaming) light.
I added a tricolour a year or two later.
They are switched so that if the tricolour is on the others cannot be.
aluijten
Well-Known Member
StugeronSteve
Well-Known Member
Only when combined with a flashing strobe and blue underwater "pimp my boat" lights.
Pye_End
Well-Known Member
That is exactly my point. If you wear too many light (eg double them up) then you may well be seen as a completely different vessel from what you really are.
Miker
Well-Known Member
I have doubled up my lights as I wanted a back-up in case one set failed, which my mast head tri-colour recently has. As I have yet to go up the mast to replace the mast head light, this thread has reminded me that I must check that I have sufficient spare bulbs for the working steaming and deck level lights.
shaunksb
Well-Known Member
When arriving at a harbour at night we normally put the engine on for a few minutes to warm up before we rely on it.
This might cause a bit of Colregs confusion if the steaming light came on before we stopped sailing.
.
orion50
Active Member
Thanks for clearing that up!
KellysEye
Well-Known Member
If you want to ignore Colregs and be creative, we've seen: a ship in the bay of Biscay with red bow and stern lights, the stern light was huge; a major sail training company yacht leaving Antigua with bow, lower and upper lights including anchor light; small Venezuelan fishing boats with a single red or blue or yellow or green or orange light. The only thing we haven't seen is a chandelier, you might wish to try that, it will certainly mark you out.